About Bazel
Bazel is an open source build and test tool for projects of any size. It supports many languages and platforms and is used for large monorepos.
What it does
Bazel rebuilds only what has changed, using local and distributed caching, dependency analysis and parallel execution. You describe build targets and their dependencies, and Bazel works out what must run. Its extension language lets you add rules for new languages or platforms, and the community shares rules that others can reuse.
Key features
- Incremental builds with local and remote caching
- Parallel execution of build steps
- Builds for Java, C++, Go, Android, iOS and more
- Runs on Windows, macOS and Linux
- Extension language for custom rules
Who it's for
Build and platform engineers who manage large codebases, monorepos or many services that need consistent builds. It also fits teams that build the same code across several languages and targets.
Pricing and good to know
Bazel is an open source project and is free to use. Adopting it usually means converting existing build files and learning its model of targets and dependencies. The official documentation includes a user guide, a query tutorial and release notes that describe changes between versions.
Highlights
- Incremental builds with caching
- Parallel execution of build steps
- Builds for many languages and platforms
- Runs on Windows, macOS and Linux
- Custom rules written in its own language
